Inner Glow Nutrition Recipe || Raw 'Tuna' Salad
Kristin Fraser, the guru behind Inner Glow Nutrition, is back with another delicious recipe, perfect for summer potlucks and picnics!
Summer is here and it’s time for renewed commitment to your health. Winter comfort food cravings start to subside and fresh, lighter foods are where it’s at. A perfect recipe to add to your mix is the sunflower “tuna” salad below. Perfect for topping on rice crackers, cucumber slices or lettuce wraps with the recommended goodies. Go to http://www.innerglownutrition.ca/something-to-chew-on to read up on more health benefits of sunflower seeds and be sure to check out this month's Chew Tube Video as well! Just 2 minutes! http://www.innerglownutrition.ca/chew-tube
Raw "Tuna" Salad Wrap
Serves 2
This Delicious faux “Tuna Salad” is a huge hit. Enjoy on top of crackers, (rice crackers or raw), with just cucumber slices or as a wrap as per below. 2 Cups Sunflower Seeds, soaked 12-24hrs 1/2 Cup pickle Juice (Bubbies Brand is best for some fermented goodness!) ¼ Cup Lemon Juice ½ Cup White Onion, minced ½ Cup Celery, minced ¼ Cup Red Pepper, minced ¼ Cup Parsley, minced ¼ Cup Dill, minced 2 Tbsp Dulse Flakes (or ground fresh dulse) *Optional toppings: vegan mayo, cucumber, tomatoes, pickles, sprouts
1. Process sunflower seeds with pickle juice and lemon juice. 2. Mix in remaining Ingredients. 3. Place in Wrap of choice: Collards, lettuce or sprouted grain tortilla with fresh sliced cucumber, vegan mayo if desired, fresh pickles, chopped fresh cherry tomatoes, mixed sprout mix.
Send us your favourite recipes to be featured on the blog!
Mommy & Me
The morning sickness, achy lower back, and fatigue of pregnancy have passed. But for new mamas, a whole other different set of physical conditions often accompanies the bliss of loving your little creation. Luckily, yoga can help address the most common concerns after having your little one. And moms aren't the only ones who can benefit from yoga; a few basic moves for the wee one can make your infant more comfortable and calm.
Mommy & Me with Dawn McCorry Yogalife Studios South || January 12-February 23, 1:30-2:30, register here Yogalife Studios North || January 14-February 18, 1:15-2:15, register here
Kari Edwards at MindBodyGreen offers these tips for new yogi mamas:
1. Focus on breathing.
In the first few weeks after birth your body needs time to recover so the best thing you can do is put your asana practice aside and focus on pranayama and meditation. When you're feeding your baby or in need of a boost after a long sleepless night, practice breathing deep into your belly long and slow through your nose.
Close your eyes and focus on the feeling of the breath as it moves in and out of your body. Even if you only manage one deep breath, your body and mind will thank you. Do this as often as you need throughout the day and it will help focus and calm your mind and enjoy these special early moments.
2. Ease into your practice with forward bends.
Provided you are recovering well and had a normal birth, beginning to include a few forward bends around two weeks or so post birth can help to compress your belly and aid in returning your uterus to its pre-pregnancy position. Check with your midwife if it's OK before you begin.
Sit with your legs together straight out in front of you. (You can lie your baby on your legs or beside you if you wish.) Bend forward from the hips, remembering not to push yourself, close your eyes and take a few deep breaths here.
3. Before you begin to include asana in your daily yoga practice, wait until six weeks postnatal or until you have the OK from your doctor or midwife.
If your baby allows you to put her down, you can begin with a few rounds (or just one round) of Sun Salutations to get your body moving and stretching again. Include chest and shoulder stretches such as eagle arms to stretch out a sore back from holding the baby and nursing. If your baby just needs to be held, you can practice a few gentle lunges or some standing hip rotations while you soothe your baby.
If you are feeling steady, you can include balancing asana like tree pose while you hold your baby but remember to take things slow and not to push yourself.
The key to transitioning from a prenatal to a post natal yoga practice is to take things slow. Listen to what your body needs as it changes and remember that you don’t need to be on the mat for a 60-minute period to benefit from yoga. Little bite-sized bits of yoga in your day will help to keep you calm and centered and to enjoy the many benefits of yoga.
Foundation Friday || Ujjayi Breath
Our Foundation Friday series delves into the basics of yoga—looking at its postures (asana), breath (pranayama), philosophy, and all the other essentials—giving you the foundations upon which to build a solid practice.
Find the balance of fierce grace with this essential yogic breath.
Foundation Friday || Ujjayi Breath
Ujjayi Breath Pranayama
"Ud" = moving upward, "Jaya" = conquest, victory fire breath, victorious breath, ocean breath
“Remember the connection between breath and movement: every movement comes out of breath. Rather than moving with and following the breath, the breath should initiate the movement. Practicing this way, we will be moved by the breath like the autumn wind picking up leaves.”
- Gregor Maehle
Ujjayi breath is a pranayama technique that allows you to focus and calm the mind. Often coupled with asana, this breath will guide you deeper into poses, steady your intention and allow you to experience your yoga more fully. In your practice, breath is regarded as the teacher; how you move and where you go is paralleled with the rhythm of your breath. Ujjayi breath is strong, fierce, warming - your pranayamic partner to bring you out of fear, anxiety, or judgement. Just as the intensity of your practice fluctuates, so does your breath. You may choose to use this fiery breath throughout your practice, or switch it up with a more gentle nostril breath like sama vritti to adjust the tone of the moment.
* note that Ujjayi pranayama involves breath retention and Ujjayi breath is the steady rhythm, sans retention
Benefits of Ujjayi Breath
- increases focus
- calms the mind
- builds concentration
- creates internal heat
- increases oxygenation
- tones the lungs
- facilitates the flow of prana
- builds energy throughout practice
- clears toxins
- creates awareness, especially within transitions of asanas
Body Talk
Body Talk: Are You Listening?
Self study happens on many levels. Each cell in our body shares our human experience; love resonates in our every fibre, as does shame, guilt, fear and anger. You may hear the hips referred to as the "emotional junk drawer of the body" or notice that certain parts of your body ache more with certain stresses. Humans store emotional experiences in their bodies and a yoga practice is a way to not only study these imprints, but to release them.
Alanna Kaivalya at MindBodyGreen shares the following:
"What we hold in our bodies as tightness translates into what we hold in our bodies as energetic stress and tension. For example, most of us recognize that someone with a hunched upper back has more than just shoulder and chest tightness, they also may have depression, sadness or fear. Other portions of the body store specific kinds of energetic tension that are exhibited as tightness and inflexibility.
Energetically speaking, our hips are where we store the emotional stress caused by a lack of creativity, difficult intimate relationships and the coinciding emotional roller-coasters. The hips are the energetic location of the second chakra, which is ruled by emotions, creativity and intimacy. Life stressors in these areas become lodged in the hips, resulting in difficulty opening up - both literally and metaphorically."
If you're looking to deepen the way you release in your yoga practice, we have the perfect offering coming up on November 22 at Yogalife Studios South.
Yin, Partner Massage & Self-Healing with Sara Cueva
Join Sara Cueva for a three hour workshop designed to educate you on the various methods to incorporate a more well rounded approach to your existing yoga practice. This workshop will include a short discussion on the relevance of, and importance of exploring, fascial release. Sara will guide you through the various techniques used to incorporate instrument assisted fascial release into your body to ensure the proper flow of nutrients within, followed by techniques for partner yoga massage, and will complete this nourishing journey with a yin practice to focus on the connective tissue of the body. This workshop will involve hands on work, so come with a friend, partner, or spouse, OR ensure you are comfortable touching and being touched by someone you may not know. This workshop is open to all levels (no prior yoga experience is required).
Foundation Friday: Swadhyaya
Our Foundation Friday series delves into the basics of yoga—looking at its postures (asana), breath (pranayama), philosophy, and all the other essentials—giving you the foundations upon which to build a solid practice. Today we are sharing a teaching from Pantanjali's classic yoga sutras, Swadhyaya or self-study.
Foundation Friday: Swadhyaya, Self-Study
Swadhyaya, the 4th Niyama Sva | Self Adhyaya | investigation or inquiry
“Study, when it is developed to the highest degree, brings one close to higher forces that promote understanding of the most complex.”
-The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, 11.44
Swadhyaya is one of the five Niyamas (daily observances) presented in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. These practices are the foundation of a yogic life; the system of the Niyamas lend to simplifying clutter and observing/attaining stillness. Pantanjali teaches that these practices progress your spiritual life on the basis that everything you need is inward. What one looks for is already there. These 5 observances are a system meant to work in harmony rather than isolation.
Patanjali also notes that this Niyama involves the study of the ancient scriptures pertaining to Yoga (The Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, and The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali). These teachings are used to assist us in engaging in life spiritually through self-inquiry. As we meditate and contemplate our own life's lessons - our thoughts, emotions, reactions - we begin to learn about our true Self. Reflecting on our own flaws, patterns and stories rather than those of others gives us the opportunity to grow, allowing our mistakes to become lessons. In your life and within your yoga practice, look at yourself with the same discernment you use with others. As if you are watching your life on film, notice what happens with your sensations, emotions, feelings, thoughts and breath; feel empowered through your process of self-study.
The Five Niyamas
The first Niyama: Saucha
Saucha is cleanliness which involves keeping your body clean inside and out. This includes eating the right food, decluttering your environment, communicating with clean and clear words as well as purification of the mind.
The second Niyama: Santosha
Santosha or contentment is the practice of being content with having enough in life.
The third Niyama: Tapas
Tapas is the practice of austerity or self discipline. This is a practice for simplifying your life, removing all the unnecessary things that do not serve you. It is a way of reflecting the external into the internal to refine your needs. The interference of thoughts and emotions can prevent us from seeing our inner stillness.
The fourth Niyama: Swadhyaya
The observance of Self allows you freedom to step into your highest form through truth and discernment.
The fifth Niyama: Pranidhana
This practice allows us to surrender to the divine or higher reality. Yoga is a spiritual practice but not a religion - the science and vehicle that enables us to understand our own beliefs better.
Acro Yoga Fundamentals
Meet Luc Felicidade, Gaiatri Yoga Training grad and acro yoga LOVER, amongst other things! Luc is joining us at Yogalife Studios South to offer Acro Yoga Fundamentals, a playful workshop to learn the basics of acro yoga. This is a great opportunity to learn new skills and deepen the ones you may already have.
In AcroYoga Fundamentals, not only will you learn the 7 fundamentals of AcroYoga, you will learn how to safely practice at home with friends. AcroYoga Fundamentals will take the foundations of yoga into the air in a fun and playful way. This interactive workshop will include foundational postures including therapeutics.
If you have been thinking about giving AcroYoga a try, this is your chance.
All levels of yoga and fitness are encouraged to attend as you explore partner yoga poses and take flight in AcroYoga!
No partner required. Only a desire to have fun with others in your community.
If you are registering with a partner, there is a discount!
Acro Yoga Fundamentals Yogalife Studios South November 8, 2014 2:30-5pm register here!
20 Characteristics Of Self-Love
Adapted from Howard Falco at MindBodyGreen
Falling in love with yourself is the TRUEST type of love. It is not selfish, egocentric or unjust - it is the most important relationship you can foster. This love transcends borders, liberates you and connects you to your surroundings. Today we're celebrating 20 aspects of self-love and the positivity it brings back into you.
1. Self-love is appreciative of your journey, struggles, and determination to move forward and overcome.
2. Self-love respects your physical body and its absolute perfection.
3. Self-love understands, forgives, and honors your past for the lessons it has provided you.
4. Self-love understands that you cannot change the past, and can only make new, more empowered choices right now.
5. Self-love is grateful for the gift of life with all its ups and downs.
6. Self-love accepts the current circumstances and is appreciative of the knowledge every situation offers on how to begin powerful change.
7. Self-love results in a divine respect for who you are, which leads to respectful choices
8. Self-love understands that your existence is the self-evident proof that you matter in every moment.
9. Self-love trusts the process of life.
10. Self-love accepts the truth that all life presents is for you in some divine way.
11. Self-love provides a love that allows you to trust that life will bring you what you desire when the conditions are right.
12. Self-love provides you the patience and faith to wait for the conditions to be right.
13. Self-love allows you to be limitless in your dreams, hopes, and desires, and limitless in the actions you take to achieve them.
14. Self-love gives you a healing and comforting presence around others.
15. Self-love gives you the peace that is stronger than anyone’s negative comments.
16. Self-love gives you a knowledge that surpasses all fear.
17. Self-love is kind, gentle, forgiving, hopeful, optimistic, and energizing to the soul.
18. Self-love is kind, gentle, forgiving, hopeful, optimistic, and energizing to others.
19. Self-love is the greatest gift you can give yourself and your world each and every day.
20. Self-love is the greatest love of all.
<3
Ayurveda with Ian Hayward
Ayur = life, Veda = science or knowledge
Ayurveda is the traditional system of Hindu medicine that is rooted in the idea of balancing the body, mind and spirit to maintain health. The wisdom in this science of life is drawn from an understanding of the laws and rhythms of nature rhythms and laws, based around the five elements of ether, air, fire, water, and earth.
The following article comes to us from Ian Hayward. Ian was first introduced to Vedic knowledge in 1984 as he searched for alternatives to Western medicine to aid his health. He was initially instructed in the practice of Vedic mantra meditation. The profound effects of this effortless technique propelled him to learn more about this ancient health system. Over the next ten years Ian attended countless Meditation Retreats and Vedic Science Courses at home and abroad. He learned and regularly practiced Advanced Meditation Techniques including the Siddhi Yoga Sutras and eventually, in the summer of 1993, emerged from the Maharishi Vedic University in Valkenburg, Holland (Deepak Chopra’s training was in the same lineage) fully trained as a Panchakarma therapist offering an extensive range of bodyworks and elimination therapies and as an Ayurvedic Wellness Consultant offering pulse diagnosis and lifestyle solutions.
http://elementallifesolutions.com/pages/ian-hayward
Fall season is now well under way and this can be an excellent time to do a cleansing program. However any cleanse must be approached with a realistic attitude or the results could lead to a destabilization not just to the physical but to the mental & emotional levels as well. When you remove a physical toxin you also disturb the mental and emotional pattern that was involved in the forming of that toxin. This is why the experience of detoxification can be a roller coaster of thoughts and emotions.
Before you contemplate the level of detox you want to achieve take a realistic look at your present toxin level. If you are new to cleansing or have not been living a particularly pure lifestyle then you need to start gently. If you release too many toxins at once you can feel like you are being poisoned, this is disheartening, destabilizing and can set up a negative pattern towards purification. It is much more effective and positive experience to cleanse at a rate that leaves you feeling fresh and clean rather than sick and unstable.
It is also important to do a cleansing program that is right for your Elemental body type and dosha. Click here for more information and specific cleansing guidelines for different doshas.
Ian Hayward, Elemental Life Solutions Inc.
Join Ian at Yogalife Studios North on Saturday, October 18 from 11am to 6:30pm for 'Elemental Intro to Ayurveda', the first instalment of workshops geared towards building the key concepts of the Ayurvedic approach to health and wellness.
Register here and contact us (info@yogalifestudios.ca) with any questions!
Learn to Fly: This Saturday with Sara Cueva
This weekend, Yogalife Instructor and Karma Coordinator (and co-host of our current Instagram challenge!) Sara Cueva is leading her popular Arm Balances and Inversions workshop at Yogalife South. Check out the video we shot with Sara last year to learn a little more about why she's so passionate about taking flight within yoga practice—and gain some insight into the goodies you'll learn in Saturday's class!
Arm balances and inversions with Sara from Yogalife Studios on Vimeo.
Learn to Fly with Sara Cueva runs this Saturday, September 6th at Yogalife South from 2:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m. Sign up here.
Catching up with the Yogalife Crew: SUP Yoga and BBQ Carnival
This past Sunday, the Yogalife crew got together for a little fun in the sun to wrap up this amazing summer we've had in YEG. We started off the afternoon with SUP (Stand Up Paddleboard) Yoga on Lake Summerside with Waterman5. We learned a little about the background of SUP, practiced on land, and then it was off on our boards to play! The sun peeked out from behind the clouds, warming our backs and the water. We posed and flowed and found out you can do quite a lot on a SUP board—so long as you're not afraid to fall... we even discovered that some of our yogis just may have been surfers in their past lives as they took to the water like fish!
(If you want to give SUP Yoga a try, Waterman5 runs classes at Lake Summerside with Yogalife Instructor Kasandra Bracken and Karma Instructor Chris Shewchuk. This season ends soon—call 780-497-7558 or email programs-ssra@shaw.ca for more info!)
After drying off, our Studio Director Lindsey Park hosted us for a BBQ and mini-Carnival. We uncovered some of our yogis' more competitive sides with games like Plinko, the Potty Toss, and Ladder Ball.
With pay-a-play action, we raised $357.50 for the Stollery Children's Hospital Foundation.
Nice work, Yogalife crew!
All bets were off when it came time to eat, as we shared burgers (veggie too, of course!), and tasty contributions from our creative crew.
A big thanks to Lindsey (and family!) for hosting, to Sara for organizing, to Dean for taking photos, and to our team for being all-around awesome and up for anything. Big love to you, crew <3
Festival City: Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival
Festival City: Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival
FRINGE: not part of the mainstream; unconventional, peripheral, or extreme (aka something you want to check out!!!)
This year marks the 33rd Edmonton International Fringe Festival, an 11-day event anchored in Edmonton’s Old Strathcona district. The Fringe showcases a variety of independent theatre performances from more than 1,200 local, national and international artists. Purchase a program guide from these retailers to plan out your Fringe experience. Many shows sell out, so buy your tickets in advance!
Along with the Festival’s diverse theatre offerings, the festival features an abundance of outdoor fun. The offerings are comprised of theatre performances, indoor and outdoor shows, street performers and buskers, vendors and beer gardens. Check out the full line-up of festival events here!
A street performer entertaining Edmontonians gathered in Old Strathcona.
Bring your little ones to Kidsfringe, a fun and FREE area for ‘little fringers’ ages 0 – 12 and their caregivers found on the North end of the Fringe site. Experience plays, music, storytelling and more on the KidStage, hear a story at the Book Nook or get creative at the Craft Corner!
Let us know your Fringe highlights! Know someone performing? Favourite venue? We'd love to hear from you! Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter!
Happy Fringing!
Brandon's Final Words
Brandon's final classes were today, Saturday, August 16, 2014. He felt compelled to write one last thank-you to the Yogalife community.
Gratitude.
I am thankful that Yogalife was the very first studio that I was able to teach at. It’s actually the only studio I have taught at so far. I am thankful that a chance was taken on me, even though I was very early in my teaching career. I am thankful for you, all of the students, who have generously allowed me to guide you, share with you, and grow with you. Even share a quote or two. I am thankful for all of the knowledge I have gained over the past two years.
I am thankful for all of your support.
For attending my classes so diligently. For following me to the North Studio when I would teach there. For coming to my Warriors of Change and Art of Massage Workshops. For joining my wife and I in Nicaragua.
I am thankful for your trust.
Thank you for trusting me enough to feel as though I had something to offer you. My hope is that I have helped even one of you in your journey through yoga and life. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to be even a small part in all of it.
I poured my heart and soul into this studio and everything I was involved in, and I promise to continue to do that for the yoga community.
If you want to connect with me, or find out where I end up and what I am up to, please follow me on Facebook at Brandon Jacobs Yoga.
“Letting go and moving on means to come to the realization that some people and some places are a part of your history, but not a part of your destiny.”
Highest Regards,
Brandon
Brittany's Final Words
Brittany's final classes at Yogalife Studios Edmonton were on Sunday August 10, 2014. She wished to say a few words as her parting gift to the Yogalife community.
Yogalife was one of the first studios that welcomed me in my infancy as a yoga teacher. I was so willing and excited to play a role in the growing community and taught a lot that first summer. So much has shifted since I began teaching at the studio over 3 years ago. Not only have I witnessed the growth of the community and studentship at Yogalife, but within our city as a whole.
We are truly so lucky to have such committed students and teachers of this practice just within our beloved Edmonton.
I’ve been lucky enough to have had such fun, inspired and lively people in my classes at Yogalife. It would not have been such a memorable and enriching experience if not for the students. From putting holes in the walls in Power Upside Down to bringing us chocolate covered bacon, or even giving me (the yogi on the bus) a lift to the train after class. I’ve laughed so hard, felt so loved, so appreciated and so very inspired by everyone I’ve had the privilege of meeting in my time here.
Teaching the Tuesday night hot flow class has become one of my favourite teaching memories.
That class was truly unique from week to week, and I always loved showing up to that class knowing you would be making wild animal sounds, dancing in the dark, doing ridiculous amounts of core and purely delighting in your practices. I always felt uplifted after teaching that class, and for that, I am forever grateful.
Thank you for allowing me to be but a small piece of your practice these last few years. Words are not even close to being able to express the love I feel for this community. If you would like to reconnect, please follow my Facebook page, Yogi on the Bus.
I whole heartedly welcome the notion of crossing paths with each of you again one day.
In Love and High Spirit,
Brittany
Edmonton Folk Music Festival
Hundreds of festival-goers grace the Gallagher Park hillside, creating this iconic view that is EFMF. Image used from festivalseekers.com
Festival City: Edmonton Folk Music Festival
The Edmonton Folk Music Festival (EFMF or Folk Fest for the veterans) is a four-day outdoor music event held the second weekend of August annually since 1980. Though named a "folk music" festival, EFMF boasts a ton of different acts and genres. You can find Celtic, bluegrass, blues, gospel, roots, and worldbeat acts performing on the multiple stages, through the day and into the evening. Staged in Gallagher Park in the Cloverdale community, Folk Fest is truly one of the largest highlights of the Edmonton festival collection.
The 2014 line-up is looking stellar. Acts include Ben Harper and Charlie Musselwhite, Blue Rodeo, and Michael Franti & Spearhead. Find the full performer roster here!
The festival gates open at 4:30 PM on Thursday & Friday and 9:30 AM Saturday & Sunday. During the daytime hours of the festival, there are six active stages hosting workshops and concerts with one stage devoted solely to children's entertainment. Face painting, street performers and roving acts are just some of the treats you'll find in between the stages. This festival is so kid-friendly they have put free entry in place for festival-goers 11 and under. There are dozens of food vendors, ranging from carnival fare to vegetarian and world cuisine. The green onion cakes and elephant ears are two EMFM classics! A large tent houses craftspeople and there is a CD tent where the performers' albums can be purchased.
"Like most festivals, the experience needs to be lived to understand why this festival continues to be one of the premier music events in Canada. The Folk Fest manages to create an atmosphere that goes beyond the music, into an experience in itself. The entire production—from the setting, of the stages, to the volunteer staff that keep it going, and even the festival goers themselves—generates a feeling we look forward to experiencing again and again." - festivalseekers.com
Are you going to the Edmonton Folk Music Festival this year? Send us your pictures and stories for a festival recap! info@yogalifestudios.ca
Servus Heritage Festival
Festival City: Servus Heritage Festival
This year marks the 39th Servus Heritage Festival, known around YEG simply as "Heritage Days" or "the most amazing place to grab dinner". Featuring 60 pavilions and representing over 85 cultures, this festival is brimming with things to do and see. The action runs from August 2nd to 4th in beautiful Hawrelak Park. Enjoy cultural food (so much delicious food!!!), performances, crafts, clothing, artwork and more in Edmonton's largest park space.
Festival Hours:
Noon to 9 pm Saturday, August 2nd 10 am to 9 pm Sunday, August 3rd 10 am to 7 pm Monday August 4th
The Heritage Festival is an amazing place to connect and chat with people about their cultural roots and their present-day communities in Canada. Look for pavilions showcasing cultural displays with photos, paraphernalia, and stories about their culture or ethnic background in Edmonton. Check out the full pavilion listing here.
Admission is FREE but don't forget your donation for the Edmonton Food Bank!
What are your favourite YEG summer festivals? What have you been up to?
Connect with us on Facebook and share your summer stories.
*photos in the article used from www.heritage-festival.com
Welcome Back Meghan Currie!
We are SO pumped to welcome back Meghan to Yogalife Studios July 25 and 26. This time she is here to share her juiciness on LOVING.EVERY.MOMENT.
Every moment is a magical recipe of sorts. Even the most sour of flavours are important and serve purpose. We can collect and assimilate nutrients from every flickering moment if we chew slowly and stay present to the complex flavours of life. This weekend is an opportunity to indulge in all the flavours of You. To simmer in your own experience and let it take you to where you need to go. The classes weave together to create a complete transformational journey, taking your practice to another level of deliciousness!
Perfectly Imperfect
You are here. We begin here, as we are. This is where all the power lives. In truth, rather than in ideas of perfection. How is this all not perfect, as it is? Once the contraction of the idea of perfection relaxes, expansion can then occur. Prepare to sweat and have fun. We flow, opening up the corners of our bodies. Hips + upside down + gentle hearts
Surf School
Swim on air, surfing the breath in each moment. And whatever arises from each moment, we surf that too! This is where we discover the grace and power that comes to our practice from listening to each moment with sweetened ears. Arm balances + deep twists + hearts
A little bit about Miss Currie~
she loves...
handstands, motorcycles, smells, grafitti, safety pins, bicycles, pigeons, music, moss, languages, books, beets, mud, dancing, hydro lines, diagrams, sewing, teaching, surprises, shaking, yard sales, anatomy, instruments, sleeping outside, wisdom, nonsense, sprouts, spoons, body parts, seeds, insects, fears, rocks, giving, essential oils, foods that vibrate, photos, ocean, laughing, naps, spinach, crying, sewing machine parts, singing, love, wrinkles, long walks, good talks, all creatures, trees, apples, raspberries, learning, breathing....being...
Visit Meghan's site to get more acquainted!
Join Meghan at Yogalife Studios South || register here!
Perfectly Imperfect || Friday, July 25 || 7-9pm
Surf School || Saturday, July 26 || 2:30-4:30pm
Guest Teacher Lisa Cohen
Yogalife Studios South is excited to welcome guest teacher Lisa Cohen, joining us from Arizona.
Lisa will be leading Melissa's Ashtanga class this Sunday June 29th at 12:30pm.
A little bit from Lisa:
Yoga came into my life when my father and sister took me to their Ashtanga yoga teacher, Anthony "Prem" Carlisi, in 1998. I did Primary series, all of Primary series in my first class. I couldn’t move after class or the week after. I was humbled. I knew that I would practice yoga for the rest of my life. I didn’t know that I would teach, but Prem passed the torch to me when he moved away. After 15 years on the mat, I am still a lifelong student, still humbled and still in-love with the Practice.
Yoga opened me up to many ways of seeing and learning, communicating and growing. Yoga is opening, loving and evolving. Yoga is an ego corrective experience. Finding yoga has helped me practice gratitude everyday in every way.
My class is appropriate for all students willing to try something new and step out of what they might think is possible, ordinary or routine. With guidance and love I try to challenge each student while nourishing the body with breath and awareness and clarity of alignment.
To learn more about Lisa visit her site www.flowinwithcohen.com See you Sunday!
Spring Cleaning!
photo credit: Paul Swanson
With the vernal (SPRING!) equinox just behind us it is officially that time of year when things melt, change and grow. This is a time to refresh, express, release; generally we find that spring is the best time of year to cleanse our environment, internal and external. As we crack open the windows, get our bikes back on the trails and reclaim the streets with our feet, a sense of rebirth rings through YEG. Finally. And while we may still see snowflakes, the memory lingers of spring's first burst of warm sun that gears us in this positive direction. "It's coming!" we say.
Perhaps we use this time of year to dust off some good old habits or areas of the body that have hibernated through the winter months. Spring proves to be an amazing time to cleanse because of this shift and movement that surrounds everything.
Just as our closets crave to be emptied and rooms yearn to be refreshed with outdoor oxygen, our bodies need the same attention. This can be a daunting task as there are so many options for achieving health... and that's the best part!
Maybe you aren't into a full-scale organ ring-out; try a new recipe or 3-day juice cleanse. Try a new yoga class or get re-inspired to hike, swim, run, dance, MOVE! Again, this doesn't have to be major... Edmonton is bursting with things to do as such a beautiful part of the hibernation process is embracing when it's over.
Spring is the time for reinvention and preparing your crops (Self, life, work, play) for the summer harvest.
Neil Gumenik from The Institute of Classical Five-Element Acupuncture Inc. in Santa Monica shares this beautiful description of spring and its governing element, wood:
"As the days become warmer and brighter, nature rouses from her winter slumber and looks ahead to the new growth of spring. The Wood, which has been at rest, storing and concentrating its energy under a winter blanket, now bursts forth with new buds, new life piercing Earth's crust. The swelling Wood of spring initiates rebirth - a surge of rising energy, like the young lamb staggering up to nurse, like the dandelion whose growing edge can burst through concrete if it must. Wood is the energy of youth and growth: a new beginning, a vision of a whole new cycle. The Wood energy of spring is an expression of life at its strongest."
Over the next 5 weeks, stay tuned on the blog for an exciting array of information surrounding cleansing, making space, renewal and release! With guest posts, cleanse information, recipes and highlights from your favourite teachers, we aim to inspire movement and merriness in this already awesome season.
Namaste!
A letter from Yogalife's owner, Caren.
Dear Yogalife students, teachers & yogis,
Happy Happy New Year!!!
How should I start.... ;) If we haven’t had the chance to meet yet, let me introduce myself. My name is Caren. I was the very first Yogalifer pretty much ever. I have had the pleasure of seeing the growth of this little studio become what it is today. Thank you for all the love and support that you show our Yogalife family everyday just by showing up.
My resolution this year is to start 2014 with clarity, integrity and intention. For me, 2013 has been a full year of shifts and lessons, of opportunity and growth. I am so fortunate and blessed to be part of such a rich yoga community, to be able to find abundance in the relationships I have made and to love what I get to do everyday. Thank you for showing up and helping me see that.
It might get long… so thank you for continuing to read this.... : )
Gratitude to the teachers who pour their heart and soul out in every class they teach, gratitude to them for helping us inspire health, strength, vibrancy and more in our community.
Gratitude to the front desk yogis who keep up with the cleaning and the laundry with vigour so that we can practice comfortably in the studio. Gratitude to them for making our day a little brighter with their warm smile or when they offer tea as an alternative to when we show up late for class.
Gratitude to the social media yogis for crafting beautiful reads, photos and videos to keep us motivated, educated and excited.
And Gratitude to all the students who keep showing up for classes and workshops, ready to move, ready to breathe and ready to learn. Your determination and exuberance fills me with humility and pride.
It’s already 2014! It’s hard to imagine that life moves so quickly and that Yogalife has been open for almost 4 years now. No, it doesn’t feel like just yesterday that we opened our doors, but my body definitely still remembers that "night before open foot fracture", and the space boot that came with it. My foot still hurts when it’s cold out…
This year our intention is to craft classes, workshops, and blog content that will inspire you. So we are offering a January and February filled with workshops dedicated to motivating your resolutions and goals. Perhaps there’s a workshop that will move you, challenge you, and make you smile.
Share your thoughts with us on how you felt about 2013. What do you want to see this year and what interests you?
These past 4 years have been a wild ride! I can’t wait to see what this upcoming year brings. Feels like it’s going to be… wait for it…. LEGENDARY.
Love,
Caren
Brandon Jacobs: Yogalife’s First Teacher Training
As you all know from our announcement last week our first ever Teacher Training led by Yogalife's very own instructors will be commencing next summer, on June 30, 2014. We are extremely excited, and humbled to be guiding some of our studentship along a pathway that we know will be nothing short of epic.
"Ultimately [becoming a teacher] is about reaching your pure potential so you can guide others." - Brandon Jacobs
Brandon Jacobs shares with us his experience searching for a yoga training, and gives advice to individuals considering doing a teacher training for the first time. Brandon's experience as a physical trainer and his background as a physical education instructor, as well as a massage therapist provides him a vast amount of knowledge in the areas of anatomy and alignment, which is why we felt he'd be perfect to lead that portion of our training.
"Teacher training is all about you connecting with yourself so that you can connect with people." - Brandon Jacobs
Check out our video below, where Brandon discusses his role, as well as his journey through yoga teacher training. Though we'd love for you to be a part of Yogalife's first training, as Brandon mentions, we want for you to find the teacher training that is best suited to you, which can provide you the opportunity to truly be yourself.
Brandon Jacobs Talks about Yogalife's Teacher Training for 2014 from Yogalife Studios on Vimeo.
To register for our teacher training or to find out more information, please visit our website here.
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